Improved cutting apparatus for harvesters



PATENTED NOV. 17, 1867.

J.- L. FOUNTAIN. CUTTING APPARATUS FOR HARVESTERS.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES L. FOUNTAIN, on ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR '.l() HIMSELF. L. J.CLARK, BRADFORD MGKENNEY, AND 0. M. FOUNTAIN, ALL or same PLACE.

IMPROVED CUTTING APPARATUS FOR HARVESTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 18,659. dated November17, 1 -67.

'To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that 1, JAMES L. FOUNTAIN, of Rockford, county ofWinnebago, in the State of Illinois, have invented a new and usefulreference marked thereon.

The nature of my invention consists in a certain improvement in thecutting apparatus of harvesters, to be hereinafter more fully described.

To enable others skilled in the art. to make and use my invention, Ishallproceed to' describe its construction and operation,reference beinghad by letter to the accom panyin g drawings, forming part of thisspecification,similar letters in the difierent figures referring to likepar-ts.

Figure 1 is atop view of my cutting apparatus; Fig. 2, a bottom view .ofthe same; Fig. 3, a bottom view of a guard-finger; Fig. 4,a side view ofthe same; Fig. 5, a vertical section through guard-finger; Fig. 6, a.top andback edge view of the cutters and cutter-bar, showing plainly theclearing-pins a a a and Fig. 7, a detail view of cutter-section.

To the finger-bar A are securely-fastened the guard-fingers 0', the form.of which will be seen byrefereuce to Figs. Sand 4," the horns G beingbeveled on their lower sides, ahdhav ing their upper surfaces flush withtheupper sides of the lower limb of the guard-fingers,

and extending out on each side'ot' saidfin'gers a distance equalto aboutone-third of the space between any two adjacentfingers at their butts.

The cutter-bar B is an ordinary flat bar of iron, tothe lower side ofwhich the cutters D are secured, each one by two rivets, a a, projectiugthrough on the upper side only at a a a. Thecutters Dare beveled at b bb on their 'upper surfaces, so that'their flat sideslie close to theupper surfaces of the lower limbs of the fingers G, and also upon theupper or flat sides ofthe horns CL: The shape of the cutters is bestseen at Fig. 2, their. extreme width near their back sides. being equalto thev distance between the points of twoadj a'cent fingers, and theirtwo back corners cut outjin half squares, so that when secured upon thecutter-bar there shall remain a square cavity the depth of the thicknessof the cutter (seen at .c, Fig. 2) midway. between each two guard--fingers when the points of the cutters correspend with the fingers, eachto each,

E E, Fig. 1, are holder-plates, keeping the cutters down upon the uppersurfaces of the lower limbs of the guard-fingers and their motionthrough the slots in the guard-fingers, by means of apitman,orotherwise,connected with suitable driving machinery, the extent of T which motion-is about equal to the distance between any two adjacent fingers. Thisnae-- tion of the 'cutterbar through the fingers'O' produces upon thestraight portion of the saidfingers the same cutting effect as in thecommon cutting apparatus for harvesters; but it will be-scen that morethan "one-third of the cutting-edgeof the finger O is inclined from thestraight edge of said finger, forming the horn G, as beforedescribed,the object and tendency-of which is to prevent the grain from being toomuch crowded back into the crotch of the cutters, and at the same timeto outsaid grain its-effectually as possible with the inclinedcutting-edges, forcing forward such I grain as is not there cut to the.portion of the fingers where it is finally cut. Itwill be perceivedthat with. this arrangement the grain is not so apt to crowd under as inthe. arrangements. now used, for reasons, first, on

account of the cutting edges of the-cutters and fingers comingin contactat an earlier period in the motion of the cutter, and, second- .ly,because the peculiar form of the fingers, as

described, prevents the grain from being too much crowded back. r

I am' aware that fingers made with the whole length of their sides orcutting-edges inclined 'in-the same direction as the horn upon myfingerwould 'causethe cutters to come in contact with them at ancarlyperiod'of their motion; but such inclined edgesare notbest fitted anismeither in the fingers or cutters.

It will he seenvfromthe drawings that my cutters are made in sections,with half-square notches at their back corners, and are riveted to thecutter-bar at (l, a in such manner'that the cutting-edges I) b shallintersect, or rather meet, at d (I, forming perfect anglesjust beyondthe lineot the front edge of-the bar 13, while the rear corners do notcome in contact, but leave square cavities c c, in depth equal to thethickness of the cutter, and the side of which square is nearly thewidth of the cutter-bar.

" "i am awaredhat sectional cutters have been made and so attachcdtotheir bar as to leave aspace. between eachv two cutters at their bases,allowing the edge of the cutter to meet that of thecntter'bar and forman angle therewith; but I do not think this arrangement so complete asmine. The cutters are each. as above stated, secured to'the bar by tworivets, a a, which are allowed to project through on the upper side, q.a. a, the object of which projections is to etl'ectuz'illy' clear theslotted opening'in the closed, fingers G ofn-ny grain which may heforced into said' slotted opening, which must be made of sutiic entwidth, as seen at Fig. 5, to prevent the grain from being wedged ,in

tight, which would render'the clearing-pinsuseless, as the v; \\ouldthen only cut themselves a passage through the tightly-wedged jsralksforexample, the machine jot-V1. A Kirby, patented April-1'5, 1856, wherethe rivets are allowed to project" on theupper and Iowersides' of thebar playing through the fingers, the fingers in vhis machine havingnotches only sufliciently large to allow the free passage of theprojecting rivets thus renderin g the arrangement incapable ofperforming the oflice for which mineis intended. I therefore do not wishmy improvement to he understood as referring to a. mechanism similar tothe one above mentioned, as in mine the slotted openings are made insuch manner as to give plenty of room for the grain which may be forcedunder and the clearing-pins pass through said openings-two pins at eachstroke-clearing itefleetnallyt, and not through notches only in thefinger. i r

The object of the cavities c is readily understood to he thesame'astheopen spaces left between the-butts oil-Kirbyscuttersfand; v in other anddifferent arrangements which are well known, but differing frommine-viz, to

clear thebearing-surface of the cutter-bar 'on the lower limb of thefinger.

The peculiar form of my cutter-section is best seen at Fig. 7.

Having now described'thepeculiarconstruction and operation of myimprovedcutting apparatns for harvesters, I do not wishto be understood asclaiming broadly either the combination of an inclined cutting-edge witha straight edge on the finger, the cavities c 0., or

the clearing-pins ac; but- What [do claim,anddesire to secure by LettersPatent, is

- The fingers 0, when constructed in the peculiar manner as abovedescribed, in combination with the horns or projections G, reciprocatingsectional cnttlers D, and clearing-rivets an, the'whole constructed andarranged for joint operation in the manner and for thepurpose herein setforth.

In testimony whereof I have, this 17th'day of October, 1857, set my handhereuntov Witnesses: v B-ELA Straw. L. Y. CLARK.

J-AMEs L. FOUNTAIN.

